I wonder if people seeing new paintings at the dawn of each period experienced them the way we experience exciting new technology.

When the Renaissance painters rediscovered perspective, did fans experience it the way we experience 3D movies? Was the depth of emotion in Baroque anything like Technicolor was for us? Or THX?

When I ran into Sassoferrato’s Virgin at Prayer at the National Gallery in London, it was like running into a time machine, and I didn’t know if I was going forward or backwards. I knew immediately that I would have to finger-paint it on my iPad as soon I got back to my own time period.

It took me a couple of months longer than I expected, and I missed my self-imposed deadline — I wanted to be done in time to send it as a Christmas gift — but I got there in the end.

Epilogue: I finished the painting about 3 months ago but, sadly, haven’t painted anything since. I have a half-finished Edward Hopper rip-off in the works but my muse has left me and who knows when she’ll be back. Time for a new hobby?